Links and Notes

It must be Philosophy in Old Rock Songs Day today.

On the drive into work, I heard “Live for Today” by the Grass Roots, followed by “You Can’t Always Get What You Want” by the Rolling Stones. Also, “I Can Help” by Billy Swan was the first song out of the radio when pulling away from the house, a song that I really like a lot. There is a guitar riff in there that sure reminded me of Les Paul, a connection I’d never made before. One of those runs down the neck, and back up, repeating the same sequence of notes. Here’s a recent version:

Something about the mood I was in made it all sound extra good. I think it’s because I was already in a very good mood, after getting my first good night’s sleep in a quite a few nights. I’m pretty sure this is directly due to my bike ride last night, also for the first time in many days. Went with my youngest boy Jordan, just the two of us, so it’s a win/win. I’ve noticed over the last few years that on days when I get zero exercise, my sleep is low quality. It’s shorter and not as deep, and during the next day, I don’t feel as good, I don’t have as much ability to concentrate, my mood is often inferior, etc. I often wonder how many people who fight problems with sleep and are taking medication for it are sort of barking up the wrong tree.

On to the links:

A night of healing in Iowa – A summation of Friday night’s tribute to Ed Thomas, the coach at Aplington-Parkersburg who was killed by one of his former players in June. He was instrumental, also, in helping rebuild Parkersburg after a devastating tornado mostly destroyed the town in 2008.

Ichiro defies critics and odds – Computers sometimes don’t throw Ichiiro Suzuki lots of love. Proving, I don’t know … that computers can be stupid? Is there a GM that wouldn’t sign him if they had a chance to start a team from scratch and wanted to win a World Series? I sure would. The guy creates team offense by getting on base at a ridiculous rate.

Political Economics 101 – Eric Raymond explains how health care would respond to government intervention in that market. See if you can guess how it turns out!

Oh, come on: one extra club costs Jim Furyk over $130,000 – And that’s why golf is the most honorable game in the world. Rules is rules. It sucks when you forget and break one. Which encourages not breaking them, and rewards those who follow them. The higher the cost of breaking them, the more value they hold.